More than 24,000 cyber-dependant crimes were reported to Action Fraud in 2023, according to data from the UK’s National Crime Agency, and is now the biggest threat facing most organisations today.

Now in its fifth year, Police CyberAlarm (PCA) has thousands of members using the free tool to support them in their efforts to protect their organisation from cyber threats.

Unite the Union (UU) is the largest trade union in the UK and Ireland with members across the private, public and voluntary sectors including manufacturing, public services, transport, food, finance and construction.

UU registered as a PCA member in October 2022 after attending the Aspire Cyber Security Summit where the North East Regional Cyber Crime Unit (NERCCU) was presenting.

It wasn’t until earlier this year, 2024, when UU had vulnerable software leaving it open to significant cyber risks that it found out just how valuable the tool is, and the robust support provided by policing as a whole.

Here, Jamie Ferguson, National Systems Co-Ordinator at Unite the Union and Jessica Oughtred, Regional Cyber Protect Officer for the North East Regional Cyber Crime Unit (NERCCU), who were both heavily involved in the case, take us through what happened and the outcome.

What was the initial issue UU was facing and how was it communicated?

Jamie says:

"We were initially unaware of a critical vulnerability, yet, thanks to PCA’s reporting capabilities, the PCA team was able to notify the regional cyber protect team about several critical vulnerabilities found on our network who in turn informed us of this issue."

With an effective internal communication process in place between PCA and the policing team, NERCCU was able to deliver swift assistance. What did this look like?

Jessica comments:

“A notification came through on our PCA dashboard that a member – in this case it was UU - had critical vulnerabilities that needed addressing. From there, we alerted UU to three critical vulnerabilities that required action, and guidance was given to rectify the issues. It was also flagged that some UU’s ports were allowing some suspicious activity through.

"MyNCSC - which provides a number of the National Cyber Security Centre’s (NCSC) Active Cyber Defence (ACD) services, and the local cyber resilience centre – the North East Business Resilience Centre – are additional organisations the UU was also able to access for further guidance, demonstrating the holistic 360° support network that exists between PCA, national and regional cybercrime departments, and the cyber resilience centres.

"From there it was all systems go for UU and, utilising the guidance it was given, its internal IT team determined the priority, tracked down the server then took action in securing its vulnerabilities."

What were the benefits and positive outcomes for Unite the Union?

Jessica says:

"From making initial contact to the vulnerabilities being fixed was a total of three hours - (the industry average for the amount of time to remediate a vulnerability is between 60 to 150 days - Infosec Institute) - allowing quick remedial action against the vulnerability to be taken whilst UU simultaneously benefitted from the cyber support of a national network of cyber law enforcement capabilities."

Jamie adds:

"As a result of this fast response, the affected host was taken offline before the vulnerability could be exploited and UU updated the software."

What were the key takeaways/learnings as well as highlights of this case?

Jamie says:

"By being a member of PCA and utilising its monthly monitoring service, we were able to safeguard against potential threats created by the critical vulnerabilities that were initially identified by the PCA team. And, as soon as you receive the PCA report, read it!"

Jessica adds:

"This is a great example that the PCA tool is highly effective in the way it operates and provides the assurance it is helping to protect members’ online systems. It has also demonstrated the strength of the policing network and the support available through the Cyber Resilience Centre Network and the regional organised crime units (ROCUs) was certainly demonstrated in this case and highlights the resources out there that are available to organisations which find themselves in situations like this."

And finally, Jamie - for an organisation considering signing up to the tool - what advice/recommendations would you give?

Sign up now! PCA is an invaluable tool against sophisticated cyber threats.

Like Unite the Union, becoming a Police CyberAlarm member will allow you to receive regular reports on suspicious activity, so you can take action to reduce identified vulnerabilities.

To learn more or to register, visit https://cyberalarm.police.uk/